CHICAGO (CBS) — We know very few teachers showed up to school on Wednesday – but some did.
One teacher, Joseph Ocol, came to his school despite a vote by the Chicago Teachers Union to move to remote learning due to a COVID-19 surge – which prompted the Chicago Public Schools to close schools and claim the union was staging an illegal walkout.
“Of course, I agree that there has to be safety measures, but it should be done in a sweeping way – because there are schools that don’t have COVID,” he said.
Ocol, a teacher and chess coach, said he did not have any COVID cases in his classroom.
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He believes he was the only teacher at his school today, and he showed up to plan and organize.
“There were no students, and I was the only teacher there,” Ocol said. “I miss my students. It’s just that this is a different situation, and I feel sad about this.”
Ocol was expelled from the union for crossing the picket line on a one-day walkout in 2016. He also came to school, and held interviews, during the 2019 Chicago teachers’ strike.
He said his focus remains on the kids.
Source: CBS Chicago
